Michael Apkon, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, plans to step down in September, the hospital announced on Aug. 13.
Tufts said Dr. Apkon intends to work with elected leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators to improve healthcare policy and influence change in healthcare.
"While this was a very difficult decision to make, I am extremely proud of the many accomplishments the Tufts Medical Center family has achieved together over the past few years and am confident in the organization's bright future. Most recently, the selfless determination and commitment displayed during COVID-19 by our front-line caregivers was inspiring beyond words," Dr. Apkon said in a news release.
"The pandemic intensified my passion for healthcare public policy and innovation, as it exposed and highlighted the shortcomings of the way our industry is currently configured and the urgent need to improve care for all people, in ways that eliminate the disparities we see all too commonly. I look forward to focusing on this critical work in the future," he said.
Dr. Apkon became CEO of Tufts Medical Center and the Floating Hospital for Children in 2018. Before joining Tufts, he was president and CEO for The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He also previously served as CMO of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and executive director at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Children's Hospital.
During Dr. Apkon’s leadership at Tufts, clinical programs and research initiatives expanded across Burlington, Mass.-based Wellforce health system, the system created by Tufts and Lowell (Mass.) General Hospital, Tufts said.
Tufts said Dr. Apkon has also played key roles in strengthening the medical center's leadership team, improving financial performance, and developing innovative external partnerships, including an opportunity to provide acute care at home.
"Mike Apkon is an exceptional leader and champion of academic medicine and innovation. His efforts to improve care delivery, research and teaching at Tufts Medical Center have expanded the way the entire Wellforce system thinks about delivering complex care locally," Michael Dandorph, president and CEO of Wellforce, said in a news release. "As COVID-19 incident commander, Mike navigated our system through anxious and uncertain times with foresight, a calm demeanor, data and an unwavering commitment to human life."
Michael Tarnoff, MD, has been named interim CEO of Tufts. Dr. Tarnoff became surgeon-in-chief at Tufts in June 2019 and also is chair of the surgery department at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Tarnoff joined Tufts in 2001 as a specialist in advanced minimally invasive abdominal surgery.